Listening to his efforts yesterday, I saw two Trumps. One spoke off the cuff, without notes, using a 3d grader’s language. But it was and is the only language in which he was fluent. The other Trump tried, nay, struggled to read off of his written notes when he appeared with his new best friend. That NATO dude.
I’ve had similar experiences when a client was either dyslexic or illiterate. In either case, they were not dumb, just illiterate. Ok, dumb, too, in a couple of cases. But In the case of Trump, I really think that he has serious problems with basic reading skills. That also might explain why he refuses to read serious, complex, for his "eyes only,” Intel briefings and demands a simplified 3d grade version. The problem is that complex problems, with many diverse players, do not easily lend themselves to reduction, simplification, or terse comments with some silly graphic.
Events that lead up to a complex problem, the history of all the involved players, the regional nature of the issue, the dissimilar goals, and the character of those individuals, groups, nationalities, religions — these are all critically important factors that must be included in any serious briefing. And these are things that Trump seems incapable of grasping.
His view of the world is binary. That is a simplistic, dangerous, and naive way to approach any issue. His approach, at least as president, has been simplistic catagorization into two groups. Good v. Bad. Yes v. No. Friend v. Enemy. No subtlety, no finesse, no shades or degrees to consider.
Previous president were known for their reading skills, their libraries, and their love of the written word. I seriously believe we have our first functionally illiterate president.